A Nigerian pastor, whose church faced closure due to an alleged £1.87 million fraud, has been denied his appeal against deportation, even after claiming it would breach his human rights.
An immigration tribunal has decided that Tobi Adegboyega, 44, the cousin of Star Wars star John Boyega, must be deported to Nigeria following investigations that revealed financial misconduct at his church.
Adegboyega was the head of SPAC Nation, a contentious church that was closed for inadequately accounting for more than £1.87 million in costs and for lacking transparency.
He contended that his removal would violate his right to family life as outlined in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), pointing to his marriage with a British woman.
He also argued that the Home Office did not take into account his community service with SPAC in the deportation decision.
Characterizing a “charismatic” community leader of an expansive, well-structured church, his legal representatives asserted that he had “influenced the lives of numerous young individuals, mainly from London’s black communities, to divert them from trouble.”
He asserted that his work had been “praised” by politicians such as Boris Johnson and high-ranking members of the Metropolitan Police, although no evidence from them was presented to the court.
He stated that without his physical presence in London, projects he had orchestrated would collapse or diminish in scale.
The tribunal was informed that the Home Office argued “not everything is as it appears.”
“Different expressions of Mr. Adegboyega’s church have been shut down by the Charity Commission or the High Court due to worries about its financial situation and lack of openness,” as stated in the ruling.
